Watford Water Polo Club claimed their first ever title after being crowned Championship Two winners on Sunday.

Heading into the last weekend of action in the British Water Polo League, Watford needed a win against Welsh Wanderers to finish as champions.

However, defeat on Saturday ensured Watford would have to rely on Worthing holding Wanderers to at least a draw 24 hours later to secure top spot.

Saturday’s clash with Wanderers started in ideal fashion for Watford as Jack Pickford’s clever lob and a Nandi Csesh strike handed them an early 2-0 advantage.

Welsh’s involvement in the latter stages of the title race was no fluke and they posed a constant threat, testing keeper Peter Pickford on multiple occasions.

A goal before the end of the first quarter handed Wanderers a foothold from which they would take control for the remainder of the game.

They started the second quarter frighteningly fast and scored three goals in a four-minute spell to move into a 4-2 lead, before Csesh reduced the arrears.

Again Welsh came forward and restored their two-goal lead with just a second remaining in the first half of the contest.

The goal-fest of a second quarter gave way to a far cagier affair after the restart as two strikes for Welsh and one for Watford’s Ciaran Walshe left the scores at 7-4.

With the title potentially slipping away from Watford, the final quarter was always likely to be hectic as they searched for a comeback.

And so it proved as another goal from Csesh added to Jared Baker’s effort to take Watford to within one score of their opponents.

Two quick-fire goals from Wanderers kept them in the ascendency and efforts from Baker and Steve Behr proved inconsequential after Welsh took their tally to 10.

Regardless of the defeat, Watford were able to celebrate promotion, but headed into Sunday knowing they could still take the title.

To do so they would first need to win against Birmingham – a task they accomplished with the utmost ease.

Watford dominated from the outset of the contest and cruised to a thumping 22-9 win to leave Wanderers needing a win over Worthing to reclaim top spot.

What followed was a truly nail-biting encounter, which saw both sides attack from the outset and the lead change hands late in the game Worthing had the better of the opening period and took a 2-1 lead into the break but were being held to a 4-4 stalemate at the half-time interval.

It was a similar story heading into what was a dramatic final quarter, with Worthing holding their opponents at 6-6.

Wanderers looked to have snatched the title at the last as they went ahead for the first time in the match and extended their advantage to 8-6.

A time-out allowed Worthing to regain their focus though, and they hit back to level with just under three minutes left to play.

Time was at a premium for Wanderers, but they were handed a boost with 11 seconds to play as they won a man-up.

But they couldn’t make the most of their extra player and were held to a draw which saw Watford crowned champions.